After the Rain has Fallen
by Alanna333
Summary: Grr...The correct revision this time. Originally a Song Fic, turned into a short story. My take on how Alanna might have met George if she hadn’t become a knight. Set in Corus, when a very independent, unconforming Lady Alanna


After the Rain has Fallen  
Sting  
  
Grr...The correct revision this time(I hope). Originally a Song Fic that turned into a short story. My take on how Alanna might have met George if she hadn't become a knight. PG, I guess, set in Corus, when a very independent, unconforming Lady Alanna is betrothed to marry Prince Jonathan. Beware! This is a fluffy A/G story, inspired by the Sting song "After the Rain has Fallen".   
  
None of these characters or lyrics are mine, so there.  
  
  
Lady Alanna of Trebond looked out over the capital city of Corus, trying to shake off her impending sense of doom. No matter how many times she went over it in her mind, Alanna still couldn't figure out how she had ended up in the royal palace, betrothed to the sole prince of the realm.  
  
"You'll marry him and that is the end of it." Her father had commanded harshly. As usual, Lord Trebond had not asked her what she wanted, never stopping to think she might have needs of her own. "You should be thrilled that any man, much less the Prince, is willing to marry a spinster who has been thrown out of more convents than I can count!"  
  
Alanna closed her eyes against the memory and the pain it brought. Nine convents, to be exact, each more repressive and horrible than the last, and at eighteen summers, she was indeed a spinster. Her father would never understand her. Not that Alanna blamed him. He was a scholar after all, and would never understand her love of hunting and horseback riding, much less her obsession with war tactics or sword fighting. Smiling, she remembered his face when he had learned that she was better with a sword than most men.   
  
All of that was over now, though. Despite her best efforts, she would marry Prince Jonathan in the morning. Alanna had found Jon, a supposed merchants son, to be exciting and free spirited. She thought him wonderful until her revealed his true nature to her. The Prince was nice enough and handsome to boot, but he was every thing Alanna feared in a husband: perfectly conforming and completely boring. Alanna knew that there would be no more horse racing or hunting for her. No more wearing breeches or defending her home against raiders. She would never hold a sword again, much less use one. Heart heavy, Alanna went to her bed, imploring the Gods to help her find the answers she needed.  
  
The palace guards are all   
Their fires burn into the night  
There's a threat of rain on the dark horizon  
And all that's left is a quarter moon of light  
  
George Cooper, the King of the Rogue, scaled over the palace walls with practiced ease. He had done this many times in his youth, when he had been sure of his immortally. Shaking his head, George wondered at his insanity. For the hundredth time he questioned why he had taken up this task. It was true that the Prince's betrothed had a fortune in jewels just ripe for the picking, but he had jewels aplenty of his own. A thief can never have enough jewels, he told himself sternly.  
  
He climbs up through the darkness  
No weapon but his surprise  
The greatest thief in the high Sahara   
Enters the room where a sleeping princess lies  
  
Carefully, George lifted himself over the railing of the balcony. When his eyes had adjusted, George saw a small figure sleeping on the massive four-poster bed that dominated the room. It's lying to yourself, you are, George Cooper. The sensible part of his mind stated. You're only here because of her. He couldn't deny it. Everyone had seen Lady Alanna arrive in Corus. She was an Original to be sure. It was said that she could ride and use a sword as well as a man. Stories told of her wild heart and independent spirit. George had only given his attention so that he might appraise the worth of her jewels with his own skilled eyes.   
  
All your money, your pretty necklace  
This is my work on such a night  
There's a storm coming over the mountain  
I'll be gone long before the morning  
  
Right away George saw that she was not a soft, lacy lady made for the confines of noble society. It was clear that Lady Alanna was miserable riding sidesaddle on a dainty mare when it she was born to riding astride a spirited stallion. Life as a princess would smother her and she knew it. Their eyes had meet briefly on that hot day less then a month ago and in that moment George felt his world rock. Since that time, the Lady dominated his thoughts.  
Best get to work, boy. He scolded himself when he realized he had been staring at her for quite some time. So what if he took this job only to see her again? What did it matter if he fancied himself in love with this woman? Men probable fell in love with her everyday. Right now he had a job to do.  
  
After the rain has fallen   
After the tears have washed your eyes   
You find that I've take nothing, that  
Love can't replace in the blink of an eye  
  
Always a light sleeper, Alanna woke the instant the stranger entered her room. Lighting flashed, revealing the intruder to be tall and muscular, moving silently through the night. A thief no doubt, and a good one at that. Alanna was more than tempted to let him take every thing in the room. They were all gifts for her upcoming wedding, after all, and she wanted nothing of them. The thief didn't case the room, however, but walked slowly to her bedside and gazed down at her.   
Startled, Alanna realized this man might not be a thief but an assassin sent to kill the future Queen. With speed born of fear, Alanna pulled her dagger from beneath her pillow and held it at his neck.   
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to enter by way of the door?" She hissed softly, seizing his cloak with her left hand. The man froze, clearly surprised. Alanna wasn't sure if his astonishment was born of the fact that she moved so quickly or that she was holding a dagger to his throat, naked as the day she was born. If Alanna hadn't been so angry at his intrusion, she would have laughed at the look on his face.   
Lightning flashed again as they stood there, frozen. George started at Alanna in wonder, amazed that this slip of a girl had gotten the drop on him, the supposed King of Thieves. And, more over, was the chit smiling? George couldn't help himself. He started to laugh. No doubt about it, this girl was never meant to be a lady.  
Thrown off by his laughter, Alanna pulled back slightly. George never hesitated. In a blur of motion, he grabbed her dagger arm. Catching her left hand in one of his, Alanna felt him slip off both the bracelet her mother had left her and betrothal band with a gentle tug. Cursing herself a fool she twisted away from him, reaching for her second dagger hidden beneath her other pillow.  
  
He was as gentle as the night wind   
As no lover had been before   
And the rings she wore for her bridegroom   
Slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor   
  
"I don't think so, little one." He said, pulling her away from the bed. George twisted her arm behind her back, pinning her dagger behind her and trapping her against him. "It isn't worth it."  
Alanna glared up at him, amethyst eyes blazing with fury. "Give them back." She seethed.  
"Does it mean that much to you?" George asked calmly. Inside, his mind was clamoring warnings: the old nursemaid could have heard the struggle and be alerting the guard this very moment. But looking down on her, George found that he was as helpless as she was.   
"I could scream." She warned.  
"No one would hear you over the storm." He replied evenly.  
Alanna glance at the balcony to see that the storm had indeed broken, rain pouring in rolling waves. Suddenly, she stopped struggling and went limp against him. Concerned that he had harmed her, George loosened his hold on her. Before her assailant knew what she was about, Alanna brought her knee up to strike at his crotch. He jerked away from her, but her blow still connected solidly with his thigh. Alanna tucked both legs up against her stomach and kicked out, shoving him away from her. He stumbled backwards but, much to Alanna's surprise, didn't relinquish his grip on her. They tumbled to the floor in a heap of arms and legs.  
Quick as a snake, Alanna pressed her dagger to his throat. "Do you yield?" She demanded breathlessly.  
His laughter, full of amusement and not a hint of fear, slid over her again.  
"Aye, lass, I yield." He replied. "In truth, I don't think I ever had a chance. Where did you learn to kick like that?"  
"My Shang master-" Puzzled, she looked down on the man. "I know you." She said slowly. "I've...seen you. In the market."   
Alanna remembered the instant as if it was a moment before, not a month ago. Her grand entrance to the city had been all frills and bows and the greatest farce she had ever partaken in. The parade went on forever while Alanna sweltered under all the material of her skirts, her back muscles, unused to riding sidesaddle, screaming in protest all the while. Alanna had smiled and waved as she was expected to, but had long since stopped trying to mask her misery.   
Suddenly, she had looked up to meet a pair of wickedly dancing hazel eyes. Those eyes belonged to a tall man watching her intently her from the shade of an alley. For all that he was tall and muscular he was not that striking, but to Alanna's surprise, she could not look away from him. Then, of all things, the man had smiled at her. It was a slow, rakishly devastating smile, the kind that promised everything yet asked for only what she wanted to give in return. Alanna's stomach had flipped over, heat rushing to her face. Her reaction to the man startled her. Puzzled and more than a bit afraid, she had looked away, and forced herself not to turn back to look for the strange man.   
Alanna had dreamed of him. She would have never admitted it, though. Who would she tell? Maude? Alanna could just hear her old nursemaid now. "It's fickle, ye are, Alanna! Betrothed to a man you just met and having racy dreams of another that you don't even know. As if your life isn't complicated enough!" But now, the man from her dreams was here, very real, as if he had stepped out of those dreams.   
  
Take me, with you, take me with you   
Before my lonely life is set  
I've been promised to another   
To a man I've never even met  
  
"What do you want?" She asked harshly. Moving off of him, Alanna picked up her robe and wrapped herself in it.  
He lay on the floor a moment longer before sitting up to gaze at her. "Now that is the question, isn't it?"  
Alanna watched him silently, heart beating furiously. She was terribly confused, afraid and very, very much aware of him. She had never reacted to anyone in such a manner, not even the handsome Prince Jonathan. Where did her sudden certainty that he wasn't here to harm her come from? What was it about this man that thrilled her so? "That's not an answer." She replied, trying hard to keep her voice even.  
"Indeed, it wasn't." Sighing, George stood and leaned against one of the bedposts. Suddenly, he smiled, causing Alanna's heart to miss a beat. "I don't suppose you'd believe I was here to rob you?"  
Unable to help herself, Alanna smiled back. "No." she replied. "I suspect if you came for that, you'd have taken all my gold and been gone before I knew what you were about."   
"Aye, that I would have," he said. They watched each other for some time, eyes searching. Lightning flashed again and Alanna looked away, unprepared for what she saw. He moving closer, causing her nerves to riot much as they did when she in battle. Placing his fingers under his chin, he gently brought her eyes back to his. "If I had come for gold, that is."  
Hope flared in Alanna's chest. "Then you felt it too." She whispered, wrapping her two small hands around his large one.  
  
After the rain has fallen  
After the tears have washed your eyes   
You'll find that I've take nothing, that   
Love can't replace in the blink of an eye   
After the thunder's spoken, and   
After the lightning bolt's been hurled   
After the dream is broken, there'll   
Still be love in the world  
  
George hugged her to his chest, disbelief and hope rippling though him at the same time. "Aye." He replied hoarsely, "I felt it too."   
Alanna eyed him, amethyst eyes wide, "I- Who are you?" she demanded shakily, "I don't even know your name."   
He looked down at her, laughter dancing in his eyes. "My given name is George Cooper." he replied, wondering what insanity prompted him to tell her that bit of information. "But you can call me George."  
Exhilaration slammed through her. Every one knew who George Copper was. Considered the King of Kings when it came to the Court of the Rogue, George Cooper may be the Lord Provost's nightmare, but tonight he was Alanna's savior. "So," she whispered, "I've captured myself the King of Thieves."   
"You can't capture the willing, little one." He responded, lowering his lips to hers in a kiss that quickly turned breathtakingly passionate.   
  
She said take me to another life   
Take me for a pirate's wife   
Take me where the wind blows   
Take me where the red wine flows   
Take me to the danger   
Take me to the life of crime  
Take me to the stars   
Take me to the moon while we still have time  
  
"This is crazy, you know." He said, marveling in the rightness of holding her in his arms. "You're to marry in the morning." Just the thought of her belonging to another man made his heart constrict painfully.   
"True." She replied slowly. Ignoring all the reasons she should push him away, Alanna placed her arms around his neck. "On the other hand, morning is hours away yet."   
"What do you mean?" He asked quietly, his heart thumping in hopeful anticipation.  
She regarded him, eyes serious. "Well, you have a choice. You can finish what you started and steal all the gold I've got."  
"Or?"  
"Or, you can take the one thing that has twice the value of all the gold here."  
George fought to control his elation, ignoring the madness of the moment "And that would be?"  
  
After the rain has fallen   
After the tears have washed your eyes  
You'll find that I've taken nothing, that  
Love can't replace in the blink of an eye  
  
"The only thing it could be." She whispered, standing on her toes to kiss him.  
George broke the kiss with a chuckle, "You mean insanity?"  
Her smile was tremendous. "Love, you rogue. Love." She laughed, realizing that she had not laughed in a very long time. Somehow, Alanna knew that this wouldn't be the last time.  
  
After the thunder's spoken, and  
After the lightning bolt's been hurled  
After the dream is broken, there'll  
Still be love in the world  
Still be love in the world 


End file.
